Greetings, folks.
Today I am going to share with you one of the playlists for my WIP, Noxumbra. Playlists? you ask. Yes, playlists. One is songs with lyrics, one is instrumentals. Today you get the one with lyrics. I will provide links to YouTube where you can listen to the songs yourself, though I shan't put the videos in this blog post, as for some reason I have a hard enough time getting my own blog to load without videos.
1. Stand by Rascal Flatts
This song is a theme song for my MC, Gwen. She's an optimistic person, and the message in this song is one she needs to hear.
2. Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain) by Gary Allan
Ditto for this song.
3. Wide Awake by Katy Perry
This is the Wycliff theme song, specifically for the line "I wish I knew then what I know now." If Wycliff had been a smarter man, my story...wouldn't exist.
4. Back to December by Taylor Swift
This is a love song. I apply it to my character Farold and the home and people he left behind 25ish years before the story began. Obviously not all of the lyrics work.
5. I Can't Outrun You by Thompson Square
This is sort of a love song that I also apply to Farold and the home and people he left, but also to Wycliff and the things he ran from, and the relationship between Farold and Wycliff (they are brothers.) Again, obviously not all the lyrics work.
6. Best of 2012 Mash-Up by Anthem Lights
This song I imagine being sung by four of the men in my story: Merig (Payphone), Marius (Call Me Maybe--don't ask it just works), Wycliff (Wide Awake), and Farold (Tonight).
Songs that are in this playlist but technically should be in the Book 2 playlist:
7. Glass by Thompson Square
This is the theme song for the friendship that grows between Silla, the MC of Book 2, and Gwen, the MC of Noxumbra. Yes, it's a love song I apply to a platonic relationship. I do that.
8. Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not also by Thompson Square (I really like Thompson Square).
This one is a theme song for my OTP.
9. I Don't Dance by Lee Brice
This is also a theme song for my OTP.
10. God Made Girls by RaeLynn
This one is a theme song for a small handful of my favorite ships.
(Ignore the talking at the beginning of this music video. It's not actually part of the song.)
So there you have it! Hope you enjoyed. I'll show you the instrumental playlist in my next post.
Do you have playlists for your WIPs? What are some of the songs on them?
Showing posts with label Theme songs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Theme songs. Show all posts
Friday, June 12, 2015
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Viola and Zella's Theme Song
NOTICE: This post will most likely turn out to be me fangirling over a song and how well it fits with two of my characters. Ish. I may also get a few words in about character theme songs in general. We'll see.
One of the things my writerly side does is analyze nearly every song I hear to see if it fits with a character. Break up songs, love songs, songs about death, about partying, about tractors, you name it. It can get rather annoying, actually. But sometimes my head puts a song with a character and it's so perfect I grin every time I hear the song and I make a mental music video of my characters to the music.
This happened a while back with Thompson Square's If I Didn't Have You, and my characters Viola and Zella. Now, If I Didn't Have You is a romantic love song, but I ignore all the purely romantic lyrics and fantasize about Vi and Zella to all the "Can apply to love in general" lyrics.
Here's the song:
It all started when I listened to this song and thought "what if they meant 'this life would kill me if I didn't have you' literally?" And almost immediately, Vi and Zella came to mind. Zella gives Vi a reason to fight and survive, and Vi rescued Zella when she was just a wee thing. Both are orphans of war, and they bonded to each other when their parents died.
I won't go into the rest of their story, but if you want to hear more about it, ask me in a comment. Also, if you want your daily dose of depression, go check out the Pinterest board I have for them. I'm pretty sure that story idea is the result of my dark side watching my interest in writing grow and saying "Hey! I want in the fun!" So, yeah, not a happy Pinterest board.
Well, that wasn't a great excuse for a blog post, but hey, I got new content up. And I never did say anything worth while about character theme songs in general. Oh well, maybe another time.
And a wondrous day/night/evening/afternoon/whatever to you.
One of the things my writerly side does is analyze nearly every song I hear to see if it fits with a character. Break up songs, love songs, songs about death, about partying, about tractors, you name it. It can get rather annoying, actually. But sometimes my head puts a song with a character and it's so perfect I grin every time I hear the song and I make a mental music video of my characters to the music.
This happened a while back with Thompson Square's If I Didn't Have You, and my characters Viola and Zella. Now, If I Didn't Have You is a romantic love song, but I ignore all the purely romantic lyrics and fantasize about Vi and Zella to all the "Can apply to love in general" lyrics.
Here's the song:
It all started when I listened to this song and thought "what if they meant 'this life would kill me if I didn't have you' literally?" And almost immediately, Vi and Zella came to mind. Zella gives Vi a reason to fight and survive, and Vi rescued Zella when she was just a wee thing. Both are orphans of war, and they bonded to each other when their parents died.
I won't go into the rest of their story, but if you want to hear more about it, ask me in a comment. Also, if you want your daily dose of depression, go check out the Pinterest board I have for them. I'm pretty sure that story idea is the result of my dark side watching my interest in writing grow and saying "Hey! I want in the fun!" So, yeah, not a happy Pinterest board.
Well, that wasn't a great excuse for a blog post, but hey, I got new content up. And I never did say anything worth while about character theme songs in general. Oh well, maybe another time.
And a wondrous day/night/evening/afternoon/whatever to you.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
The World Through a Writer's Lens
Today is my turn to post for the Teens Can Write, Too! July blog chain. This month's question is:
"How has writing affected your perception of the world?"
Writing has changed how I look at many things, but in subtle ways. I listen to how people talk more than I used to. Sometimes I look at strangers and see the faces of potential characters. Or maybe they're wearing something I think a character would wear. Or maybe they're just being normal and I wonder what their story is. I didn't used to do that.
Writing has also changed how I listen to music, watch movies, and read books. For example, when I heard Carrie Underwood's new song Blown Away, I had two reactions: Eew, and Ooh.... The song is about a girl of undisclosed age who lets her father die in a tornado. It's never said directly, but I got the impression that the father had killed the mother years before. Eew, creepy, twisted, blugh. However, I have a character who can relate, Viola Wood, and I got a writing buzz. Viola's circumstances are way more complicated, but she can relate to wanting her father dead. Her reaction to that song got me to like it. Enough to listen to it multiple times in a row. Had I not been a writer (or at least without a character like Viola), I would have just had the Eew reaction and never listened to the song again. I had a similar experience with Rascal Flatts's song Here Comes Goodbye, only what happened with that one was I set the emotion and some of the lines to a scene right before a battle. That made it worth listening to. Otherwise it's just another sad breakup song.
Writing has somewhat changed how I look at odd happenings. Like the time my mom found a random windshield wiper set on our car. It wasn't one of ours, someone had just put it there. When she told me about it, I thought "What if it was a magic windshield wiper?" I'm not sure what a magic windshield wiper would do, but it has potential. Odd things like that, and even some ordinary things, now trigger ideas.
That's all for me folks. Be sure to check out the rest of the blog chain!
July 7–http://miriamjoywrites.wordpress.com–Miriam Joy Writes
July 8–http://musingsfromnevillesnavel.wordpress.com–Musings From Neville’s Navel
July 9–http://insideliamsbrain.wordpress.com–This Page Intentionally Left Blank
July 10–http://maybeteenauthor.blogspot.com–Blog of a (Maybe) Teen Author
July 11–http://scribblingbeyondthemargins.wordpress.com–Scribbling Beyond the Margins
July 12–http://lilyjenness.blogspot.com–Lily’s Notes In The Margins
July 13–http://correctingpenswelcome.wordpress.com–Comfy Sweaters, Writing and Fish
July 14–http://laughablog.wordpress.com–The Zebra Clan
July 15–http://realityisimaginary.blogspot.com–Reality Is Imaginary
July 16–http://a-myriad-of-colors.blogspot.com–A Myriad of Colors
July 17–http://anmksmeanderingmind.wordpress.com–An MK’s Meandering Mind
July 18–http://incessantdroningofaboredwriter.wordpress.com–The Incessant Droning of a Bored Writer
July 19–http://allegradavis.wordpress.com–All I Need Is A Keyboard
July 20–http://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com--Teens Can Write Too! (We will be announcing the topic for next month’s chain)
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Songs That Inspired Me For No Apparent Reason
A couple weekends ago I wrote two short stories. I plan on submitting one of them to a short story contest, but I'm not sure which. However, this post is not about those stories, it is about the songs the I listened to about fifty times while writing them.
First of all, I never listen to music while writing. Ever. Unless my mom happens to be listening to some classical music or jazz. But the music I listened to that weekend was country music, and it actually had words. I'm not sure how my brain managed to make it work, but it did. Quite well. It's bizarre. The first story I wrote is a ghost story. The song I listened to was Just a Dream by Carrie Underwood. The lyrics don't fit my story at all, but the mood felt right, and I listened to it over and over and over while writing. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY I LIKE THIS SONG! It's horrible and sooo sad! And kinda pathetic. I truly don't understand. I hate sad songs. But this one makes my soul sing. I don't get it. The other story I wrote is about a rescue mission. The song I listened to over and over for it was Beer For My Horses by Toby Keith and Willie Nelson. It's kind of a dumb song. But again, it fit the mood of my story. It's got the whole justice/catching bad guys thing in it. I can actually understand why I like this song. Ever since I was little I've been catching imaginary bad guys, so it makes sense that I like a song about catching bad guys. But it really is weird. I mean, beer for my horses? Seriously?
Whatever part of my brain caused me to be inspired by those two songs must be completely insane. At least I know that if I can get inspiration from Just a Dream, I can get inspiration from almost anywhere. Come to think of it, this is the second time I've been inspired by that song. The first time inspired a story where the romantic lead in my Lizzie Evans series dies. Don't worry, he wasn't really dead, just MIA. I'm not sure it's something I'll ever use, but I was inspired enough to write parts of that story down in my notebook. Go figure. The human brain is complicated, especially when it contains multiple realities.
First of all, I never listen to music while writing. Ever. Unless my mom happens to be listening to some classical music or jazz. But the music I listened to that weekend was country music, and it actually had words. I'm not sure how my brain managed to make it work, but it did. Quite well. It's bizarre. The first story I wrote is a ghost story. The song I listened to was Just a Dream by Carrie Underwood. The lyrics don't fit my story at all, but the mood felt right, and I listened to it over and over and over while writing. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY I LIKE THIS SONG! It's horrible and sooo sad! And kinda pathetic. I truly don't understand. I hate sad songs. But this one makes my soul sing. I don't get it. The other story I wrote is about a rescue mission. The song I listened to over and over for it was Beer For My Horses by Toby Keith and Willie Nelson. It's kind of a dumb song. But again, it fit the mood of my story. It's got the whole justice/catching bad guys thing in it. I can actually understand why I like this song. Ever since I was little I've been catching imaginary bad guys, so it makes sense that I like a song about catching bad guys. But it really is weird. I mean, beer for my horses? Seriously?
Whatever part of my brain caused me to be inspired by those two songs must be completely insane. At least I know that if I can get inspiration from Just a Dream, I can get inspiration from almost anywhere. Come to think of it, this is the second time I've been inspired by that song. The first time inspired a story where the romantic lead in my Lizzie Evans series dies. Don't worry, he wasn't really dead, just MIA. I'm not sure it's something I'll ever use, but I was inspired enough to write parts of that story down in my notebook. Go figure. The human brain is complicated, especially when it contains multiple realities.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Theme songs
One of the new things I found for developing characters this year is giving them theme songs, and I have found it quite enjoyable. However, I found that it is very difficult to give my characters just one theme song. Which, it just dawned on me, makes sense. There's more than one side to every person, so they have more than one theme song. For instance, Lizzie has three theme songs right now: Just a Kiss by Lady Antebellum, Gimme That Girl by Joe Nichols, and Wildflower by the Jane Dear Girls. None of them fit her perfectly, but they all fit some part of her. I do not doubt that her list of theme songs will continue to grow.
Theme songs also work in reverse. The right song can inspire a character. This happened to me in July. Or maybe it was August. Whatever. Anyway, sometime this summer Getaway Car by Thompson Square inspired one of the many characters running around in my head and her story line. Her theme song fits her better than any of my other characters' theme songs fit them. But that is only to be expected since it was that song that inspired her.
Finding theme songs for characters helps me to give them back story. It doesn't help a lot, but it helps. It's like I'm hearing them tell me how to write them and how they want to be. Yeah, it sounds kinda lame and a bit crazy, but it is none the less true. And looking for theme songs means that I have all the more reason to hang out on YouTube or near a radio and listen to new music. Oh, poor me.
Theme songs also work in reverse. The right song can inspire a character. This happened to me in July. Or maybe it was August. Whatever. Anyway, sometime this summer Getaway Car by Thompson Square inspired one of the many characters running around in my head and her story line. Her theme song fits her better than any of my other characters' theme songs fit them. But that is only to be expected since it was that song that inspired her.
Finding theme songs for characters helps me to give them back story. It doesn't help a lot, but it helps. It's like I'm hearing them tell me how to write them and how they want to be. Yeah, it sounds kinda lame and a bit crazy, but it is none the less true. And looking for theme songs means that I have all the more reason to hang out on YouTube or near a radio and listen to new music. Oh, poor me.
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